Uganda health care system can thrive with the involvement of nurses
May 12, 2019
In the hospital, you will encounter a nurse right upon arrival, at registration; find them in the admission room, doctor’s room and theater.
Bryan Mayanja was bound to be a pilot; in fact, he holds a private aviation license.
Mayanja quit flying school in the USA after two just years of study. It was after his sister, a doctor also in the USA, convinced him to try the field of medicine.
"I do not think you will enjoy being a pilot," my sister said.
"As a pilot, you will fly to different countries, sleep in fancy hotels, but you will not have people to talk to, you are a people person, aviation is prestigious but not good for your character," she further said.
It was at this point that Mayanja's sister asked him to visit her workplace and shared with him video footage of how she handles patients on a daily.
"I saw the connection she had with the patients, the friendliness, it was magical. After two hours, I made up my mind to quit aviation," Mayanja said.
His sister did not ask him to start with medicine but rather try nursing "You will be in the same class as the doctors for at least three years," she said
After that, you will go to different classes the doctors will study for a further two years and you will do one more," she further explained.
IHK CEO Andre Ackerman, minister for health, Ruth Achen, COO Esme Keyser, and Dr. Micheal Oling and Director of Nursing Bryan to extreme right.
As they say, the rest is history. Today, Mayanja is the Director of Nursing at the International Hospital Kampala (IHK), a job he is so passionate about.
But nursing is not without challenges
Annually, the International Nurses Day 2019 is celebrated on May 12, 2019. It is the birthday of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale an English woman.
Celebrations are also in her memory. Speaking after the occasion organised to celebrate nurses at IHK, Mayanja said efforts to provide quality nursing care in Uganda is faced with numerous obstacles.
"Work equipment's for nurses are not as good and pay remains poor," he said.
"It takes passion to stick to the nursing profession," Mayanja added, given the unfavoruable work environment.
Samuel Muhwezi another nurse working at IHK agrees "It takes passion for a nurse to go the extra mile and one may not even tell," he said.
Muhwezi was excellent in Biology and Chemistry at school. His teacher encouraged him to pursue medicine at university.
He had shown a passion for providing care. Much as he was into sports, Muhwezi was also always among the people giving injured students first aid during sporting events at school.
When his senior six results returned, he had passed, but he could only be availed a nursing slot on a government scholarship at Soroti Nursing School.
He went for and has never looked back. Muhwezi holds a diploma in nursing, but he says nurses are faced with a wide scope of work.
"Private hospitals mostly, do not want to hire many nurses. Their aim is to make profits with small numbers but the nurses get burn out over working long hours," Mayanja explained.
Uganda's doctor-to-patient ratio is estimated at 1:11,000 but the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends one physician per 1,000 people.
Muhwezi added: "sometimes we also improvise to make sure treatment is given to a patient, where there is no equipment or medicine."
Celebrating nurses
Nurses play a big role in a patient's recovery, Muhwezi explained. He added "nursing is not only about giving medicine to a patient, it goes beyond to establish what a patient needs," he said.
"Be it hygiene, welfare (including feeding, or best diet), or emotional need (that involves making a patient happy, telling them stories to make them forget their sorry) a nurse will go out of their way to find out and provide.
We do not only treat the physical but emotional need of a patient," Muhwezi expounded.
He says nurses beyond treatment will try to re-orient a patient to normal life.
In the hospital, you will encounter a nurse right upon arrival, at registration; find them in the admission room, doctor's room and theater.
"It is the nurses who feed doctors with information; they will tell the doctor if their prescription is wrong, tell the doctor the prescription is an overdose, tell the doctor the patient will react to their prescription and suggests what could work.
The nurses have a complete understanding of the Environment and health which is crucial for providing quality health care," Mayanja explained.
He says nurses are always with patients, interact, watch, monitor their health progress and take care of patients to recovery but their work is not appreciated most times.
"A patient will report a nurse for one minor mistake forgetting all the good care they have been given by the very nurse since their arrival in the hospital," Muhwezi said.
Mayanja added that nurses, besides poor pay, poor work conditions, have also faced both verbal and physical assault from patients while on duty.
What hope do nurses hold?
I would like to see the public perception towards nursing change, Mayanja said. "Nurses are not doormats, nurses have valuable insight to share during treatment and provide direct care to patients," Mayanja explained.
Muhwezi said the work environment too must improve and pay enhanced so that nurses do not have to work numerous jobs to make ends meet but commit to their calling.
"Give nurses benefits, accommodation near the workplace, and education support for them and their children, so that they are not disturbed but committed to their work," he said.
In addition, Mayanja said nurses must be heard in rooms where key decisions are made. "If we have enough representatives in key positions of Uganda our health care system will thrive," Mayanja said.
This year the International Council of Nurses (ICN) led the celebrations under the theme "Nurses: A Voice to Lead, Health for All." Earlier on May 5, 2019, the International Day of the Midwife was also celebrated each year.
The theme for this year's celebration is Midwives: Defenders of Women's Rights.